


An Unforeseen Turn of Events

by SlytherinsAndSnitches



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Child Abandonment, Child Neglect, Gen, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mentor Severus Snape, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Severus Snape Adopts Harry Potter, The Author Can't Think of a Good Title
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-06 03:49:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18380369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherinsAndSnitches/pseuds/SlytherinsAndSnitches
Summary: The summer before Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, the Dursleys leave without any explanation. Abandoned with no money, no way to contact anyone he knows and unable to leave the wards without fear of Voldemort and his forces attacking, Harry must figure out how he's going survive the remaining month before term begins."He hopes that someone will check up on him soon, but deep down Harry knows that with the constant attacks that have been going on, the Order's members are already stretched too thin to spare someone to watch over Privet Drive. After all, Harryshouldhave been safe here, so there's no reason that anyone would even be worrying."Edit 12/27/29:  On Hiatus. Not Abandoned!!





	1. A Not So Stellar Summer

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so I know that it's probably gonna suck, but you have to start somewhere :) Constructive criticism is always appreciated! As you can see in the tags, this will eventually be a Snape mentors/adopts Harry fic, but it'll be some chapters in before Snape makes an appearance.

_Harry watched, horrified, as Sirius fell through the veil, a scream of grief ripping itself from his throat. The sounds of fighting around him grew dim and all thought left his mind. Suddenly, the mocking laugh of Bellatrix LeStrange echoing throughout the large room sounded very loud to his ears, the words finally making themselves clear, and without any thought, Harry tore himself from Remus' grip and chased after her, an Unforgivable falling from his lips. He wanted her to feel the overwhelming pain he feels, the fear, the desperation for it to just STOP- "CRUCIO!"_

SLAM!

Harry woke with a start. Shaken up and confused about what was going on, it took him a few moments to reorient himself. Trying to ignore the grief that was bubbling up inside him, Harry finally realized that what had woken him up had been the car door slamming outside.

 _'That's odd,'_   Harry thought, listening to the sound of the car driving away,  _'Uncle Vernon doesn't usually leave for work until way later in the morning.'_  His stomach dropped when he noticed how bright it was outside and Harry frantically shoved his glasses onto his face so he could see the numbers on the clock that was sitting on Dudley's old nightstand.

"What the-" Harry leapt out of bed, wondering how he had slept in so late without his aunt barging in, yelling about how lazy he was and "Just you wait until Vernon gets home, we'll see how you feel about trying to get out of doing any work then!"

 _'Did something happen?'_ The only thing that could distract his family from doling out unfair punishments was if something had happened to their precious Dudley, like the time when he and his gang of idiots had been drinking down at the park and just generally causing a ruckus by breaking the empty bottles against the surrounding brick fence. Dudley had inevitably gotten hurt, came running home blubbering with a piece of glass stuck in his hand, and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had been so worried that they had completely forgotten to punish Harry for stealing leftovers out of the fridge, instead they spent the next week coddling Dudley, and Harry's little incident was overlooked.

Still uneasy but wanting to avoid any further punishments if his family _was_ pissed, he raced down the stairs, determined to get started on his long list of daily chores so there would be nothing else to be angry about when he faced his aunt. It wasn't so bad, Harry guessed. At least the working, along with the constant nagging-and berating-from his relatives distracted him from the horrible series of events that had transpired barely even a couple of months ago. With a sigh, Harry refocused on what chores he needed to do today.

When he got downstairs though, ready to face a barrage of insults from his aunt, Harry was bewildered to see that the house was completely empty. Not even Dudley, who was always home at this time to watch his favourite program on the telly, was here.

 _'Weird.'_  The Dursleys usually never left him home alone, declaring that he might "use his freaky powers on their things," or some such nonsense. ' _So where the hell have they gone then,'_   Harry wondered, as he checked through the rest of the rooms,  _'and when would they be back?'_ Glancing around the suspiciously bare house, he had the sinking feeling that it wouldn't be anytime soon.

 


	2. Coming Up With a Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! So, I've been making an outline of the story-I started writing this with no preparation-and I've got a pretty good idea of where I want to go with it. It'll be fairly long, and I might actually make it into a series. Two works, with this one ending in the summer after Harry's 6th year and the second work starting in the beginning of his 7th. I'll do my best to update regularly as well, that's all for now!

Harry was beginning to really regret his decision to leave Hedwig with the Weasleys for the rest of the summer.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, what with his Uncle Vernon threatening to "snap that ruddy bird's neck if you can't shut it up!' as if it wasn't his own bloody fault she was always making a ruckus in the first place. " She wouldn't be making any noise if you would just allow me to let her out of the damned cage once in a while!" Harry had shouted, earning himself a harsh cuff to the back of his head.

Besides, it wasn't like Harry had even been able to contact his friends much anyway. All correspondence between himself and anyone else was severely limited, and the letters contained very little useful information due to the fear of them being intercepted. He _was_ grateful for regularly being sent the Daily Prophet though, so he hasn't been _completely_ in the dark.

 _'I don't even have that now.'_ Harry thought with frustration. The last copy he had of the Daily prophet was from a week ago, and things hadn't looked good. Death Eater attacks seemed to be happening almost constantly, the frankly horrifying amount of deaths-magical and muggle alike-lowering Harry's spirits even further. _'How am I ever supposed to defeat Voldemort?'_ He despairingly thought of the prophecy Dumbledore showed him after Sirius' death. _'If all these Order members can barely make a difference, really, what chance do I have?'_

And now Harry was stuck here in this shitty place with no idea of what was happening out there and no way to contact anyone that he knew. It was just his luck that Mrs. Figg-whose connection to the Order Harry had found out about last year-would be called away just days before he would desperately need to get into contact with Dumbledore.

 _'I can't even go to the neighbours for help.'_ Harry thought slightly hysterically. _'Even if the wards did extend that far and I wouldn't be killed on the spot or taken by Death Eaters, no one would probably even be there!'_

The attacks on muggles were becoming more and more overt, and people had started to panic. With no idea what was going on, muggles were doing the only thing they could do-fleeing. The people that left either moved further out from the more populated areas-like where Harry lived-or just left entirely. What else were you supposed to do when people were showing up in the papers every other day having been brutally murdered, and you or your family could very well be next in line?

Doing nothing but making himself even more stressed, Harry tried to direct his thoughts to something else for a while. 

"Okay," he muttered to himself, "food." The Dursleys didn't leave much to eat. _'Must be trying to kill me off quickly.'_  Harry thought wryly. There definitely wasn't enough for a whole month, though with his aunt and uncle's preferred method of punishment being withholding his meals, he was sure that he could make it last long enough-not until September first, but long enough that it wouldn't be too much of a problem when he ran out.

Beginning to take stock of what he would have to eat first before it went bad, Harry tried not to think too hard about what would happen when the food finally _did_ run out. _'That isn't going to be fun.'_ He definitely can't go outside of the house, not without any protection. Harry knows that the _second_ he leaves those wards, Death eaters are sure to attack, and with the prophecy weighing heavily on his mind, he knows he can't risk it, that would mean damning the entire wizarding world, all because of his selfish actions. Harry can't take being responsible for any more deaths. _'Not after Sirius, never again.'_

* * *

 

 _'At least water won't be an issue.'_ Harry thinks morosely some time later. He's pretty sure that the bills had already been paid for before his 'family' decided to leave, so that's one thing he won't have to worry about. At least they did that much.

Of course, the whole reason Harry's in this mess in the first place is because of them. No one-not even Harry-would have thought that the Dursleys would just _up and leave._ They probably thought that after they left he would just make a call and be whisked away to Hogwarts like he was in some fucking fairytale. 'Well, it doesn't work like that in the real world,' Harry reflected bitterly.

Harry wishes he were anywhere but here, hell he'd take Snape over this. At least then he'd be getting _some_ sort of information. He really hopes that someone will check up on him soon, but deep down, Harry knows that with all the attacks that have been happening, the Order's resources would already be spread too thin, and the chances of them being able to spare a member just to watch over Privet Drive are slim to none. After all, Harry was _supposed_ to be safe here, so there's no reason why anyone would even be worrying.

"Shit."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of feel like the writing is all over the place at the moment, so I might go back and edit some bits in the future.


	3. Snape’s Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snape finally makes an appearance!

Severus Snape stalked through the halls of Hogwarts, his black robes billowing out behind him. Finally reaching his destination, he muttered the password to the Headmaster's office, rolling his eyes at how ridiculous he sounded. "Acid Pops." Making his way into the circular room, he heard Professor Dumbledore call out, "Ah, Severus, you're here! I see you got my Patronus." Finally coming into view, Snape could now see that Albus was wearing an eye-watering set of pink and orange dotted robes, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses.

"Of course Headmaster. You said this was an urgent matter."

The twinkle dimmed a bit. "Quite, it has come to my attention that the wards around Number 4 Privet drive have been slowly deteriorating over the past few weeks, and that they are dangerously close to falling."

Bewildered, the Potions professor inquired, "Why on earth would they be failing at all, and what of Potter?"

"That is my concern," the Headmaster stated, now frowning, "There's no reason this should be happening. With Harry's aunt still living there, the wards should be as strong as ever." He continued, "I'm afraid that Harry is no longer safe there. At the rate in which the wards are now collapsing in on themselves, if Harry isn't relocated within the next twenty-four hours, he will be left completely unprotected."

"And what would you have me do about it, Albus?" Snape asked, irritated because he already knew where this was going.

"Well," Dumbledore began, the twinkle returning to his eyes full force, "seeing as my duties won't allow me the time, and the rest of the Order members are either on their own missions or out of commission for the time being, that leaves you, my boy." Seeing the look on Snape's face, he quickly continued, "You would only need to fetch Harry of course. There's a safe house by the coast which I do believe Remus will be occupying for quite some time. I'm sure he would love to have Harry stay with him until term resumes."

"Oh, yes of _course_. Let's remove the boy from danger by sending him to live unsupervised with a  _werewolf_ for two weeks." Snape muttered sarcastically.

"Severus," the Headmaster chided, "You know very well that Remus takes his potion every month, considering that you're the one who brews it for him."

"I can think of a few occasions where it seemed to slip his mind, all of them involving Black of course."

"If you're referring to what happened to you during your time as a student here, then you must also remember that you were all very different people back then. As for what happened more recently, I'm sure Remus can be excused, that was a trying time for _all_ of us." A pointed look was shot in Snape's direction when he began to object, "People _do_ change, Severus. After all, look at how you turned out. Reforming yourself, risking your life spying for the side you swore to always oppose," His voice took on a sombre tone, "even despite the many ways in which we've failed you throughout your life..."  Seemingly lost in thought for a moment, the Headmaster shook his head and when he looked up, the pondering expression that had been there moments before was gone. "Apologies, I do seem to have strayed a bit off topic my boy, back to the task at hand! Will you do it, Severus? I know you and Harry have quite the animosity between the two of you, but there is truly no one else. 

Sighing, but knowing that he really had no choice but to go and fetch the brat, Snape acquiesced. "Very well, Headmaster."

"Excellent!" Dumbledore crowed, "Now, there will most definitely be Death Eaters nearby, which means you'll have to be quick."

"I'll have to pass through the Death Eaters without their notice, or my cover as a spy will be blown."

"Yes, and as soon as you have Harry, do not hesitate to apparate back to Hogwarts. We'll figure out what went wrong with the wards once you both are out of danger. Here-"

Dumbledore pulled out an ancient looking ring. "Use this if you need to discretely get into contact with me. Any words that you spell on to the inside of this ring will also appear on its twin."

He lifted his hand, showing off the identical ring already on his finger. "A bit more subtle than the Patronus Charm, don't you think?"

"Indeed," Severus replied, admiring the intricate spellwork that had been cast into the golden band.

"It's settled then, once you return to Hogwarts with Harry, as the Secret Keeper I will be able to reveal the location of the safe house, and you can both portkey there."

"Understood Headmaster, I'll leave at nightfall." And with that, Severus swept from the room.

* * *

 Harry was bored.

It had been seventeen days since his relatives abandoned him in their home, and since then Harry had completed his summer homework, cleaned and organized everything in the house, and recounted how much food he had left at least sixty times ( _same answer every time-not much_ ). He was honestly going mad.

It wouldn't even be that bad usually, Harry supposed, sure he might have gone a little stir-crazy, but with the horrible memories from the night at the Department of Mysteries being the only thing his mind would focus on, and the constant ache of hunger waking him up-if his nightmares didn't first, this was slowly starting to feel like torture.

Flopping exhaustedly down onto the couch, Harry thinks of his friends.

 _'I can't wait to see Ron and Hermione again,'_ Harry thought with a pang of longing, ' _Hopefully, someone will come soon enough that I'll be able to go shopping with them for the new school year.'_  Not that he was holding out much hope. Harry would most likely be waiting out the remaining week and a half until someone from the order came to apparate him to Hogwarts, with it not being safe for him to travel by the Hogwarts Express.

 _'At least I don't have to worry about someone figuring out what had happened this summer because I failed to show up, and then blabbing to Rita Skeeter or something.'_ Gossip spreads through Hogwarts fast. He'd probably on the headline of the Daily Prophet by the next day. Harry could just see it now, "The Boy-Who-Lived, Abandoned By His Own Family?" He's sure Malfoy would get a kick out of that, not that he won't have enough ammunition already, as Harry knows that Malfoy won't consider himself above taunting him over his godfather's death. He already does with his parents, after all.

His thoughts once again shifting back to Sirius, Harry finds himself biting back tears. _'You don't deserve to cry, not when you're the reason he's gone in the first place.'_ Why hadn't Harry remembered the mirror? It would have been so easy to check and see if his godfather was okay. If he hadn't rushed in, always so desperate to handle things himself, and just _waited_ , Sirius would be here right now. Instead, he lost the closest thing he had to family and nearly got his friends killed in the process. 

 _'Of course the only reason any of this happened is because I refused to even try to make an honest attempt at Occlumency.'  _Selfishly refusing to learn to block Voldemort from his mind on the basis that he might get a little extra information and that _Snape_ was his teacher, Harry could see that this was all his fault. _'And I can't fix it, or go back in time to change things, I just have to live with what I've done.'_

He didn't notice when tears began to stream down his face. 

* * *

 

A few hours later, Harry was startled awake by a sharp rapping on the back door. Rolling off the couch and grabbing his wand from the coffee table, He crept through the dark living room towards the back door. Wand held aloft, Harry chanced a peek through the window next to the door. His jaw dropped in surprise when he saw the face of his dour Potions professor, glancing to and fro as if expecting someone to jump out and attack at any second. _'Well considering where he is, that's probably a valid concern,'_ Harry thought with dark amusement.

Still cautious, He kept his wand at the ready. Easing open the back door, Harry greeted Snape with a cheeky smirk, "Evening professor, fancy seeing you here."

His features instantly forming into a scowl, Snape pushed past Harry and into the house, shutting the door behind him. After casting what had to be at least a dozen shielding spells and protection charms, Snape finally turned and asked, "Potter, where are your relatives?"

Well shit. "They erm, they're gone, sir."

Already looking as if Harry was testing the last of his patience, Snape ground out, "Do you know when they’ll be back? Where are they?"

"Well you see, I don't exactly know that sir, considering the fact that they fucking drove off while I was sleeping _weeks_ ago, with not even a note to say where the hell they were going and leaving me with no way to contact anyone without leaving the wards," Harry said, every word dripping sarcastic venom.

Looking a bit gobsmacked for only half a moment before once again becoming expressionless, Snape swiftly ordered "Get your things, quickly. We're leaving. If you have anything of value that you wish to keep, I suggest you get it now, we won't be coming back. 

Not sure what was going on, but sure as fuck ready to finally get out of this place, Harry rushed to put all of his belongings in his trunk. It didn't take long at all, considering that he didn't have much in the first place. Taking one final moment to make sure that his Invisibility Cloak and other items from his parents were securely locked in his trunk, Harry walked back to the living room where Snape was impatiently waiting.

"I'm ready."

* * *

Quickly shrinking Potter's trunk and sliding it into his pocket, Snape told him the plan.

"The second we step outside of the wards we will apparate to Hogwarts.  _Do not_ let go of my arm, unless of course, you wish to be splinched and torn to shreds." The boy nodded, a nervous expression crossing his features. _'Good, we can't afford any mistakes caused by Potter's idiocy.'_ "Death Eaters are patrolling nearby, so stay alert."

"Yes, sir."

"One more thing Potter, if we are attacked and unable to apparate, I want you to get to somewhere relatively safe and wait there until I can get to you, do you understand?" Snape questioned, his dark eyes boring down into Harry's own.

He hesitated, then, "Yes, sir."

"Good, let's go."

* * *

 

As they made their way down the back walk so they could sneak round to the front of the house without being spotted, a supremely bad feeling began to wash over Harry. Feeling like there was someone watching them, he glanced around nervously, having trouble trying to make out anything in the darkness. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary but still feeling unsettled, Harry tightened his grip on his wand and looked to Snape in front of him.

"Sir-" Harry whispered, trying to get his professor's attention.

"Keep walking Potter."

"I really think we should go back, something's wrong." Harry persisted, slowing down a bit.

Whirling around and grabbing Harry by the wrist to ensure that he would keep up, Snape bit out in a very low voice, "The wards are going to fall in a matter of hours. We're on our own, and our best bet of staying alive is getting the hell out of here. So will you please, for once in your life Potter, fucking cooperate?"

Harry never got a chance to reply, because, in the next second, someone shouted a spell and he and Snape were both diving in opposite directions to avoid the resulting flash of green light. _'What the hell, did the wards fall early or something? We're still on the property!'_ Staying close to the ground to avoid being hit by any stray spells that were flying around, Harry struggled to see where Snape was in the overwhelming darkness surrounding him.

He finally spotted him when the flash of a spell illuminated his face for a moment. They had gotten much farther away from each other during the wand fight between Snape and three Death Eaters than Harry had originally thought.

Looking at the distance between himself and Snape, and the positions of the Death Eaters, Harry suddenly knew, with a sick feeling in his stomach, that at this point there was no way that his professor would be able to reach him without getting seriously injured, or even potentially killed. So, waiting until the Death Eaters seemed to be too engrossed in the battle to notice him stand, Harry threw up a shield that he knew probably wouldn't hold up against most of their major dark spells, and began to run what seemed to be the longest distance of his life.

He was almost there, seconds away, hoping against hope that he was reading things right and that Snape had managed to see him in the pitch dark and would be ready to apparate, when a sharp pain blasted through his right shoulder, whiting out his vision and making Harry stumble for a few heart stopping moments.

Just those few seconds were enough though. He had made it to Snape, but as the pair began to disapparate, the Death Eater-whom Harry could now make out as Lucius Malfoy-managed to grab ahold of his injured arm and _yank._  

The group of three disappeared with a flash of light and the sound of screaming.

 

 


	4. Summer Plans With Severus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooh boy, this chapter really did not want to be written, but I persevered! Please excuse-or point out lol-any errors, I didn’t really have time to thoroughly search for typos :)

_Somewhere in England_

Landing in a nondescript patch of forest, the still night air was quickly broken by the sound of wretched, pain filled gasps. Quickly trying to take stock of the situation, Severus could see that while Potter was still on the ground, looking as if he was seconds away from passing out, Malfoy was already rising to his feet.

Whipping out his wand and stepping in front of the boy, Severus was just quick enough to shield them both from being disembowelled by the curse that was hurled their way.

Throwing out a few spells of his own, all of them being successfully blocked by his opponent, Snape drawled out, "Careful, Lucius, you and I both know that the Dark Lord wants Potter brought to him  _alive_. Wouldn't want to incur his wrath by disobeying orders." 

"Don't speak of orders to me, you filthy traitor!" Lucius snarled, his face looking half-crazed in the moonlight. Sending a blood boiling curse right his way, which Snape dodged, he continued, "I'm not the one who betrayed his master, whispering lies into the Dark Lords ear, and for what? To protect the son of a man that you loathe?"

Attention being brought back to Potter, Severus noticed that the boy had indeed lost consciousness sometime during their fight, whether it was because of pain or something being seriously wrong, he didn't know. Snape realized he needed to end this, and fast, lest he risk the boy potentially dying due to his injuries. 

Replying to Malfoy's comment, Snape said, "You forget Lucius, who the boy's mother is, and just who killed her. He's a monster, surely you can see that? Now more than ever." Preparing for his opening, he spoke. "Narcissa realized what he was, but she was too far involved, and you choosing to be loyal to that lunatic over your own _wife,_  is what got her killed.

The man froze, shocked, his wand lowering a bit, before his features twisted up into disbelieving rage. "You _dare_ -!"

But Severus wasn't listening, in that split second of inaction, he sent the one spell that was sure to end this fight, Malfoy's way. "Sectumsempra!" The other man moved to block it, but he was too late, and the brutal cutting spell hit him with full force.

Falling to his knees, blood already spurting from his wounds and pooling onto the ground beneath him, Lucius looked up, surprised betrayal shining in his eyes. After a few silent moments, in which Malfoy seemed to realize that he would die if he stayed any longer, he reached with shaking hands into his robes and pulled out what Snape knew to be an emergency Portkey. With a muttered word and one last glance toward Severus, Lucius Malfoy disappeared with a loud crack.

* * *

 

 The second Malfoy was gone Snape turned to check on Harry. Quickly casting a Lumos, he swore when he saw the damage that had been done to the boy's shoulder.

It was even more extensive than he could have thought. The entirety of Harry's upper right half was a mess of blood and bone.  _'How Potter managed to stay conscious as long as he did is beyond me,'_ Severus thought, a sick feeling bubbling in his stomach, _'the pain had to have been absolutely excruciating.'_

More concerning though, was the dark magic he could feel rolling off of the boy in waves. Spelling off his now completely destroyed shirt to inspect the area more closely, he discovered that the curse was still actively wreaking havoc on Potter's body. Faintly glowing ropes of green had spread down part of his chest and all the way down to his wrist. _'What the hell?'_

He's never seen a curse like this before, and Severus wasn't quite sure what to do.

Casting spell after spell on Harry, who at this point was looking deathly pale, Snape tried to stabilize him enough to be able to apparate.

_'Stupid boy.'_  He knew he shouldn't have trusted Potter's word that he would stay out of the way of danger, the little idiot couldn't stay out of trouble to save his life.  _'What else could I have done, though? I had to get the boy out of there somehow.'_ He sighed.

With Potter as stable as he was going to get without proper aid, Severus finally tried to think up a plan. _'We can't go back to Hogwarts.'_ Even if the chances of them being followed were low, Snape wouldn't be able to apparate all the way to Scotland without multiple jumps, and the shock of it might end up killing the boy.

_'Well, there is one place we could go.' _The perfect place actually, what with the extensive library and access to rare potions ingredients, it would be the safest place to hide whilst he tried to find a way to reverse the damages done to the boy's body.

With his mind made up, and not wanting to waste any more time, Severus pulled out the ring Dumbledore had given him and began to spell out a message.

_Attacked by Death Eaters. Potter injured, moving him to Prince Manor._

The words disappeared with a small flash of light, and within a few moments, new ones began to scrawl themselves across the ring in their place.

_Keep me updated on Harry's condition. Good luck, Severus._

Sliding the ring onto his finger, Snape reached down to gently grab ahold of Potter's uninjured arm, disapparating them with a pop.

* * *

Harry woke to the sound of a door opening. Realizing he was in a bed and not laying on the ground of some forest anymore, he opened his eyes.

"Finally awake, Potter?"

Quickly sitting up, Harry found himself looking at the slightly blurry visage of his Potions professor.

Noticing the boy's squinting, Snape told him, "Your glasses are on the nightstand." After blindly fumbling around for a moment, Harry shoved the glasses onto his face. Finally able to see, He looked up and asked, "What happened?"

"Well, Potter," Snape began, "after you got yourself hit-despite your promise to _stay out of sight,_ we apparated. When Malfoy had grabbed you halfway through the apparation though, it threw us off course, hence the reason we ended up in the woods. We're fortunate that neither of us got splinched.

"The Death Eaters," Harry said abruptly, the mention of Malfoy making something in his mind click, "they saw you helping me, that means-"

"I know what it means, Potter." Snape sneered, "I will no longer be able to spy for the Order, and the Dark Lord most likely already has his followers looking for me so he can exact retribution for my betrayal, considering how long it's been."

"Wait, how long _has_ it been, professor?" Harry inquired, suddenly realizing that he wasn't in any pain, despite the fact that he remembered-in excruciating clarity- the feeling of being hit by a curse before barreling into Snape.

"You've been out for four days."

Harry's mouth fell open in shock. "That long? Why?"

"Because, you idiot child," Snape began, "It took me that long to research and create a potion that would reverse the _extensive_ damage that the curse you ran in front of caused," He sat down onto a nearby chair with a sigh, "Not to mention that I had no idea what the spell even was, much less what it was doing to your body."

"What exactly _did_ the spell do, sir?" Harry asked, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, _'It's like he thinks I got myself cursed on purpose. Git.'_

"Along with the external damage, which was healed with Skelegrow and copious amounts of Dittany, it turns out that the specific spell that was cast had been feeding off of your magical core to sustain itself," Snape said, "That's why you remained unconscious, despite my efforts at waking you. The spell was slowly weakening your body. Aided by the continuous flow of magic, had I not stumbled upon the cure, you would have died within the week."

Horrified, Harry hesitantly questioned, "The spell didn't cause, like, permanent damage or anything, right?" Almost not wanting to know the answer.

"No," Snape replied, "You're magic may be a bit weak for the next few days, but other than that, there seem to be no lasting effects."

Feeling dizzy with relief, Harry fell back onto the bed he was currently lying on, finally thinking to ask, "By the way, professor, where are we?"

"We are at Prince Manor, in England." Snape said, beginning to look irritated, "Do you have any other questions, or may we move on to more important matters, like what you will be doing for the rest of your summer vacation."

Interest piqued, Harry looked to Snape with full attention. 

"Don't get too excited Potter," Snape said, and with a look of utter distaste, he continued, "The Headmaster thinks that now would be an opportune time for us to resume Occlumency lessons, and as much as it vexes me, I have to agree. The Dark Lord is becoming more powerful by the day, and you need to be able to shield your mind from him. Therefore, you will remain here until the term resumes." 

At first Harry wanted to refuse, tell Snape he could stuff his Occlumency lessons, but thoughts of Sirius began to flood his mind, and with guilt he thought of the fact that if he'd just set his animosity with Snape aside and actually tried to learn, he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. His spirits decidedly lowered, Harry quietly voiced his agreement.

"Yes, sir."

 

* * *

 

Whatever reaction Severus had been expecting, this was definitely not it. Instead of throwing a tantrum and refusing or something as equally dramatic, a pain-filled, and almost _guilty_ , expression crossed the boy's face, before Potter softly responded,

"Yes, sir."

_'That's it?'_  No arrogant demands to see the Headmaster? Not even a _mention_ of having to live with his most hated professor for the next week. Untrusting of Potter's new-found compliance and expecting an outburst at any moment, Snape cautiously spoke, "Very well then, we will begin lessons tomorrow." Rising from his seat, he continued to say, "This will be your room for the duration of your stay. I would suggest resting until dinner, which is at seven, but if you feel well enough you may roam the Manor as you please, as long as you stay _out_ of my personal quarters."

"Will I be able to go outside?" Potter questioned.

"Yes, although not until I show you how far out the wards extend." With a slight glare, Snape continued, "Do you have any more questions, or may I finally be rid of your presence?"

"Just one, Professor. I don't know how to get to the dining area."

"Ah, I will send up a house elf to show you to the dining hall when it's time." 

"...Thank you, Professor," Potter said after a pause, surprising Severus with his sincerity "for this, and for saving me." He was nervously picking at the hem of his shirtsleeve.

Snape stared at the boy for a long moment, studying him, before finally answering, "You're welcome, Potter." No further words being exchanged, he exited the room, a pondering look on his face as he contemplated Potter's strangely civil behaviour.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to try my best make the chapters longer as the story progresses, but for the first few chapters they might be rather short as I get into writing this, so bear with me!


End file.
